Holdouts in a Syrian ghost town

The grandchildren of Mohammed Kale play in a swing at their family house in Kfar Lata, a ghost village at the top of a mountain subdued under heavy shelling and bombardments due the fighting between opposition fighters and government forces in the Idlib province countryside of Syria, Oct. 3, 2013.

The sprawling, three-generation family of Mohammed Kale refuses to leave their home; a boxy, multi-story concrete apartment that holds the entire family.

The men want to stay back and fight. Their elder patriarch, 65-year-old Mohammed Kale, fears they will suffer in moving, penniless, from their home.

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Ahmed Kale stands guard at the frontline on the outskirts of Kfar Lata, Syria.

Two weeks ago, Kfar Lata had some 10,000 inhabitants, mostly farmers who had built concrete homes on its rich soil with carefully stashed money, bringing prosperity to a once-tiny hamlet.

Now, it's one of the many ghost villages that dot the Syrian countryside, abandoned by residents and ravaged as soldiers and rebels spread through the area in roving battles.

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A grandson of Mohammed Kale plays at his family house in Kfar Lata.

Many of Kfar Lata's residents now form part of the flood of more than 4.5 million people displaced within Syria, and more than 2 million who have become refugees abroad.

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Ahmed Kale chops wood with his daughter to make a fire for cooking outside his family house in Kfar Lata, Syria.

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A hand grenade is seen among flowers at the house entrance of Mohammed Kale, the patriarch of a sprawling, three generation family in Kfar Lata, Syria, Oct. 3, 2013.

The Kale family lives surrounded by evidence of stubborn domesticity and war: a living room shelf displays a hand grenade and a vase of yellow plastic flowers, baby milk powder and medicine pills.

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Mohammed Kale's daughter-in-law comes to the door to see off her husband, Ahmed, as he leaves for the frontline in Kfar Lata, Oct. 3, 2013.

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Mohammed Kale's wife stands with her granddaughter and grandson in the yard of her family house in Kfar Lata, Oct. 3, 2013.

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Mohammed Kale sits with his family at home in Kfar Lata.

"If I am to move from the village, it will be to go to my grave," said the elderly patriarch, Mohammed Kale, leaning on his cane.

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Mohammed Kale's sons rebuild a house wall damaged by a mortar shell that landed at their family house in Kfar Lata.

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Mohammed Kale's sons, walk at the frontline on the outskirts of Kfar Lata.

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Mohammed Kale's grandchildren play in a swing at their family house in Kfar Lata.

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Opposition fighter Ahmed Kale, center, and his comrades mount guard at the frontline on the outskirts of Kfar Lata.

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Mohammed Kale's granddaughter pushes water from a roof as stray bullets buzz overhead from clashes in Kfar Lata.

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Mohammed Kale sits with his grandchildren as they eat lunch at their family house in Kfar Lata.

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Mohammed Kale's granddaughter picks up dry clothes from a laundry line at her family house in Kfar Lata.

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A woman, center, sees off her husband Ahmed, second left, as he and his comrades leave for the frontline in Kfar Lata.

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Smoke rises after a mortar shell hits a rebel position during clashes in Kfar Lata.

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A Syrian woman goes into her family house in Kfar Lata.

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Mohammed Kale's sons rebuild a house wall damaged by a mortar shell that landed days before.